Come Back
by AnimeGirl 144
Summary: After Lee's surgery, Lee goes in search of Sasuke to heal Sakura's heart. Nobody but Sakura knows where he is and the male group of ninjas goes in search of him. And who is this little girl with the dead flowers? Can the group bring back Lee in time?


Disclaimer: AnimeGirl144 (me): After I finished my other story, Where is Lee?, I decided to do this one. This sucks, yet another story I have to think up as I go.

Lee: But you are very good at these stories. Yosh!

Sakura: Yah, Lee's right.

Me: Thanks Lee, thanks Sakura, anyways I don't own any of these characters, excpet the little girl.

Lee: The summary for this story is: After Lee's surgery, Lee goes in search of Sasuke to heal Sakura's heart. Nobody but Sakura knows where he is and the male group of ninjas goes in search of him. And who is this little girl with the dead flowers? Can the group bring back Lee in time before Sakura's heart fully breaks? Read to find out. LS, hints of NH, NT, SI.

Sakura: Do I really need to tell you the couples. Oh well, it is Lee/Sakura with hints of Naruto/Hinata, Neji/ Tenten, and Shikamaru/Ino. What a minute I'm with Lee? (blushing)

Me: Yes, I've been stories that pair up you and Lee, and you ask that now! Why? Do you want to be with Sasuke?

Sakura, goes white: No way, this was just the first time I was helping you start a fiction.

Me (whisper): With your boyfriend Lee.

Sakura blushes even reder.

Lee, not noticing our conversation: Please review on this story. It is set after Sasuke leaves and after the timeskip. I don't know if Lee's surgery was before or after the timeskip, so if it was before oh well and if it was after then that is great. Sakura's and Ino's hair is the same length as it was before they cut it. Anything else AnimeGirl144?

Me: Yes. And now onto the story. Sorry if I spell anything wrong .!

Lee: Yosh!

Sakura: Cha!  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Come Back-  
Sakura sat under a cherry blossom tree. It was before a field of blooming flowers. She sighed. So much had happened to her. First Sasuke leaves to train with that snake Orochiamru, then she gets a new teammate, Sai, who is mean to her but is nice to Ino, her parents move to a new village, and then Kakashi and Naruto leave to bring Sasuke back. She used to cry over Sasuke for leaving, but her friends were there to cheer her up. The one who cheered her up the most was Lee. He was always by her side. Now thinking about it, she didn't care if Sasuke returned. What had he done for her? She was the one who cried for him, the one who would protect him, the one who tried to impress him. All he did was leave her and made her heart brake. Now that she thought about it, Lee did the same for her and she did the same as Sasuke. She never had to impress Lee, he was impressed by her already. The wind blew through her hair. She looked ahead in the field and saw a little girl picking up some flowers. The little girl had black hair, white eyes, black long sleeve shirt, long white skirt, and gray slippers. Sakura looked closer and saw that most of the flowers she had were dead, only two were alive; a cherry blossom and a lotus. They reminded her a lot about her as the cherry blossom and Lee as the lotus. Over time, she grew feelings for the fuzzy-browed boy. She again looked at the girl and saw that the lotus looked weak. Suddenly, she heard a light but emontionless voice.

"The lotus boy is hurting," the voice said.

It was from the little girl. The wind blew and she disappeared. Sakura justed stared.

"The lotus boy is hurting?" she asked herself. "Does she mean Lee?"

"Sakura, hey Sakura," Tenten yelled.

"Oh hi Tenten, what is it?" Sakura asked.

"It's Lee, he is having his surgey in a minute or so," Tenten said.

"Wha?" Sakura asked. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"He didn't want you to worry about him. It is a 50/50 chance of him surviving," Tenten said.

'The same as you loving him,' Tenten thought.

"Hey, if you make it in time, maybe you can be with him during the surgery," Tenten said.

"You're right. Thanks Tenten, bye," Sakura said, running off.

She ran as fast as she could to make it to the hospital. She had to make it in time. Lee had always been there for her and now it was her turn to return the favor. She just had too, and she did. She ran up to the front desk, nearly scareing the nurse behind the desk.

"What room is Rock Lee being taken to for surgery?" Sakura asked (I don't know really so don't hate me for this ok).

"Room 124, but no one is allowed in there," she yelled because Sakura had ran at the last part.

She ran to the room and opened it. Lee laid unconsious on the bed with Guy and Tsunade near the bed. Sakura bowwed.

"Sorry for the intrussion Lady Tsunade, but I ... I want to watch you do Lee's surgery," Sakura said.

Tsunade sighed. She looked at Guy who nodded.

"Alright, but keep quiet. I'll need complete silence if he has any chace," she started.

Both Guy's and Sakura's eyes lowered.

"If he has any chance of survival," she finished.

"Right," Sakura said.

She grabbed a chair and sat down near Lee. Tsunade sighed and began the process. Sakura watched. She was mostly watching Lee. She didn't breathe much, afraid to make even the tiniess of sounds. After a couple of minutes, Lady Tsunade stopped. She sighed.

"Okay, let's see if it worked," she said.

She lightly slapped the boy's face. He didn't react. After a couple of minutes, he didn't move. Tsunade looked away. This was the hardest part of, telling the sensei or parentos friends if the patient survived, or died. Guy lowered his head. Sakura looked at him, tears forming.

"No," she whispered.

Tsunade turned to Guy.

"Guy, can I speak to you outside?" she asked,

"Of course Lady Tsunade," he said.

Both of them walked out. Tsunade didn't close the door all the way, just enough for Sakura to hear. Sakura held Lee's left hand. She listened in on the conversation.

"I am sorry Guy, I thought it would have worked," Tsunade said.

"It is alright Lady Tsunade, you did all you could do," he said.

"I will have to find you a new student, but for now, you and your team get some rest," she said.

"No, the power of youth never rests," he said, giving his pose.

Tsunade sweat dropped.

'He's back to normal,' she thought.

"Ok then, just do something," she said.

Guy walked down the hall and Tsunade walked into the room. She saw Sakura looking at Lee.

"Sakura," she said, "I have to go, don't be long."

She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Sakura laid on Lee's chest and cried. She couldn't believe her protector was dead. She then heard a sound. It went ... thump thump, thump thump. It was in prefect rythem. She sat up to see Lee's muscular chest move up and down. She blushed at the sight of Lee's chest. Lee slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head to see Sakura there.

"Sa ... Sakura," he said weakly. "Where ... where am I?"

"You're at the hospital Lee, remember, your surgery?" she asked.

"Yes. What happened? Why are you here?" he asked.

"Well, Lady Tsunade preformed the operation, but ..." she began.

"But?" he asked.

"Well, when she finished she tried to wake you up but you wouldn't wake up. We all thought you were dead," Sakura said, tears threatning to fall.

She lowered her head and cried. Lee looked at her sadly. He wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"Please Sakura, do not cry. I am fine and I will heal your heart," he said.

He sat up and he put on his shoes. Sakura looked at him questionly.

"What do you mean? What are you doing Lee?" she asked.

"I am going to go find Sasuke and bring him back to heal your heart Sakura," he said.

He opened the window and was about to jump out when he felt someone hold his arm. He turned to see Sakura there, tears starting to form.

"Lee don't go. You are still in no condition to move," Sakura said.

"I must go and heal your heart Sakura. I want to make you happy," he said.

He got out of her grip and jumped out the window onto a branch and continued jumping in the trees.

'Even if it means you must be with Sasuke,' he thought.

Sakura fell to her knees and cried in her hands. A minute later the door opened to reveal Naruto and Hinata.

"Hi Sakura," he said.

He noticed that Lee's bed was messed up, the window was open, and that Sakura was the only one in the room and she was crying. Hinata gasped and brought a hand to her mouth.

"Sakura, where is Lee?" Naruto asked.

"He went to bring Sasuke back," Sakura said.

Naruto stood there, eyes widened. Hinata also looked ready to cry.  
"Naruto, please," Sakura said, turning to Naruto."Please bring Lee back. Not Sasuke but Lee."

At first Naruto stood there, but nodded.

"Right, I'll tell the others," he said, turning to Hinata. "I'll need you to watch over Sakura, ok?"

"Of co ... course Naruto," Hinata said.

She still stampered now and then. Naruto nodded. He kissed Hinata on her forehead and ran down the hall. A red Hinata stood in the doorway. Her and Naruto had been together for a month now. Sakura looked out the window, sadly.

"Lee," she whispered.

Naruto did exactly as he had said. The boy ninjas were at the gates, waiting for Naruto and Sai to show up. They heard their names being called and turned to see the girls run to them. A minute later, the last two ninjas showwed up.

"Good luck guys," the girls said. "And come back safely."

"Right," they said and headed off.

"Hey Shikamaru," Ino yelled.

Shikamaru looked back.

"Yah?" he asked.

"You and the others better come back alive or I'll make sure you're in an early grave," Ino threatened.

He and the other boys gulped and nodded. They then continued their journey. The wind blew and Sakura saw the little girl. She held the lotus and cherry blossom in her hand. She had eleven other dead flowers around the two flowers. The cherry blossom looked a bit dead.

"The cherry blossom girl is hurting," the girl said.

The wind blew again and she disappeared. Sakura stared at the gates.

'Lee,' she thought.

'Shikamaru,' Ino thought.

'Naruto,' Hinata thought.

'Neji,' Tenten thought.

The girls just stared out the gates. After some minutes, the girls couldn't see the boys. Tenten sighed.

"Hey, I have an idea, what if we have a slumber party at my place," Tenten suggested.

"Sure, I have nothing better to do," Ino said.

Sakura and Hinata nodded. They walked to Tenten's house. On the way, they talked about stuff. When they got to Tenten's place Ino immediatly went for the ice cream. Ino opened the frezzer and saw ice cream. Her jaw dropped.

"Dang Tenten, you have more ice cream than me!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura and Tenten laughed. The girls grabbed their favorite flavor and sat down in a circle. They started talking about old slumber parties, parties, etc.

"Oh, oh, Ino, remember that one slumber party you had a year ago?" she asked. "Remember how Sai had kissed me?"

Ino started laughing and Sakura was on her back. Hinata let out a few giggles.

"Yah, and remember how mad Neji looked?" Ino asked. "That was priceless, I even have a photo of it."

"Yah, and remember what you did after that Tenten?" Sakura asked.

"Yah, that was great. I punched him so hard in the jaw, he actually asked Neji and Lee for protection," Tenten said, laughing. "And ... and then Neji punched him. I thought he was going to get a restaining order."

"I'll never forget that," Ino said, "I have a photo of that too!"

"Hey Sakura, remember when you played Seven Minutes in Heaven?" Tenten asked.

Sakura blushed at the thought. She was paired up with Lee. Tenten laughed.

"That was so funny, you should have seen your face Sakura when we told you it was Lee, it was great," Tenten said.

Ino laughed, "I have a photo of that one as well."

"Hey Ino, did you take photos of all the funny moments?" Tenten asked.

"Sure did," Ino replied.

"Could you copy them and give me them?" Tenten asked.

"Sure thing," Ino said.

Tenten giggled in happiness. Hinata looked at her questionally.

"Why are you ... laughing?" she asked.

"I remembered Sai's Christmas party and I remember you and Naruto under the mistletoe," Tenten said.

Hinata blushed. She remembered as well. That was her first kiss with Naruto. Ino and Tenten looked at the cherry red blood girl and laughed.

"You thinking about your boyfriend, or your first kiss," Tenten teased.

Hinata didn't answer, only blushed harder red. Sakura laughed at her friends face. Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. Sakura got up and opened the door.

"Hello?" she asked.

She looked down to see three little kids standing there.

"Hello," the one in the middle said.

"Hey I know you, you guys are Naruto's friends, right?" she asked.

Konohamaru got a closer look and then jumped back frightened.

"Ahhhh! It's you!" he yelled. "The big ugly witch!"

Sakura's eyes went to anime angry. She picked Konohamaru up by his collar and shaked him.

"You little creep, how dare you say that about me," Sakura said.

Tenten and Ino looked over at Sakura and the helpless boy. They sighed and sweat dropped.

"Should we help him?" Ino asked.

They watched as he was being shaken to death.

"Um, yah I guess so," Tenten said.

They walked over to Sakura. Ino put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura turned to them.

"What?" she asked angrely.

"You should put the little boy down before you kill him," they said.

"Hey butt out, I don't need help from an ugly blond pig and an ugly hair bun wearing girl," Konohamaru said.

Both girls flamed up. Their eyes went anime angry.

"Konohamaru, you shouldn't have said that," Udon said.

To late. Konohamaru was on the ground, his eyes swirling. Tenten, Sakura, and Ino smirked. Hinata just had her hand covering her mouth. Moegi and Udon looked at them scaredly.

"Now, why are you here?" Tenten asked.

"We were looking to see if Naruto would play with us, but we can't find him," Moegi said.

The girls eyes lowwered. Moegi and Udon took note of that.

"Where is he?" Moegi asked.

"He went on an ... important ... mission," Hinata said.

The little kids looked over at her.

"Hey I know you, you're Naruto's girlfriend," Udon said.

Hinata blushed and looked away.

"What was the mission?" Udon asked.

Sakura looked away. Tenten and Ino sent messages, wandering what they should say.

"Him and his friends went on a mission," Sakura said, "on a mission to bring back a friend."

Moegi and Udon took note of her sad voice. Tenten and Ino was surprised that Sakura told them.

"Do you know when he will return?" Moegi asked.

"Hopfully soon," Sakura said.

"Us too. Well, thank you, buh bye," Moegi said.

Her and Udon picked Konohamaru up and ran away from the house.

"Yah, bye," Sakura whispered.

The wind blew and she saw the little girl, right before she closed the door. Both the lotus and the cherry blossom looked dead.

"The lotus boy and cherry blossom girl is hurting," the girl said, then disappeared.

Sakura closed the door. And sat down with the other girls.

"I know, lets watch Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Mans Chest," Tenten suggested.

"Ooohhh, I love that movie, lets watch it," Ino said.

Tenten walked to her movie cuberts. Ino looked and saw that the cuberts was full of movies. Ino's jaw dropped.

"You have more movies than me!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura and Tenten laughed at Ino's reaction. Tenten grabbed the movie and walked over to the tv and put it in. She grabbed four blanets, popcorn, and some hot cocoa. She handed them to her friends and sat down to watch the movie. At parts, Hinata had to cover her eyes and Sakura would scream. All for of them screamed after seeing Davy Jones (I went and saw this in the theaters and the whole theaters screamed when they saw Davy Jones, it was priceless seeing my moms face). When it was over Tenten took it out and walked over to the cubert.

"Now what do you want to watch?" she asked.

"Do you have ... Cars?" Hinata asked.

"Ohh that one's funny, lets watch it," Ino said.

Tenten grabbed the movie and put it in. She sat down and they watched it. It was a funny movie. When they finished watching the credicts, Tenten took it out and put it away.

"What other movie?" Tenten asked.

"Do you have Undercover Brother?" Sakura asked.

"Yep, this one is my favorite," Tenten said.

She popped the movie in and sat down. Ino and Tenten tried to breathe, but that was hard. Sakura swore they would have died of laughter if the movie didn't end.

"O ... okay, I think th ... that was the best movie yet," Ino said while laughing (watch it, it is funny).

"No question about it," Tenten said.

"Yah, it was really funny," Sakura said.

Tenten put it away and came back with another movie.

"Hey Tenten, what are we watching?" Ino asked.

"We're watching The Simpsons Movie," Tenten said.

"I heard that movie was funny," Hinata said.

"It is, if you like seeing people be stupid and get hurt a lot," Tenten said.

Tenten put it in and sat back down. She was getting exercise just by getting up and down. They watched it. After it was over, and after Ino and Tenten gained air, Tenten put it away and ordered some pizza. She sat back down.

"They said it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes," Tenten said.

"Hey Tenten, where are your parents?" Ino asked.

"I don't have any," Tenten said.

Her voice was neutral. It was neither sad nor happy. Ino, on the other hand, was sad. She looked at her with sad eyes.

"Don't you ever get lonely?" she asked.

"Not really, I have my sensei, and my teammates, and Neji," she said, blushing bright red.

Ino gave a sly grin.

"So, you sleep in his bed on long, cold, lonely nights," Ino teased.

Tenten blushed hard red. Sakura laughed at the sight of her older friend.

"Like you don't do the same with Shikamaru," Tenten said.

"So you do sleep with him," Ino teased.

"Only once," Tenten amitted.

Ino smiled at her progress. Tenten mentally slapped herself for admitting it.

"So Ino, how many times have you slept with Shikamaru in his or your bed?" Tenten asked.

"Hmm, at least four times by now," Ino said plainly.

Sakura laughed at the sight of her older friend. Tenten's jaw touched the ground. Hinata laughed a bit.

"Hey Hinata, how many times have you slept with Naruto?" Ino asked, since Tenten still had her jaw dropped.

Hinata stopped laughing and went blood red.

"O ... only one ... once," she said.

Hinata looked away to hide her blood red blush. Tenten finally snapped out of her stupid gaze.

"Sakura, how many times have you slept with Lee?" she asked.

She already knew the answer, but the other girls didn't and Ino was looking at Sakura questionally. Sakura looked away. Not to hide her blush, but to hide her sadness in her eyes.

"Never," she said.

The girls took note about her tone. It was sad. Ino and Hinata thought she was sad about the subject, but Tenten knew she was sad about Lee.

"You liar, I know you've slept with Lee," Ino said.

Sakura looked at Ino. Her eyes showed confusion.

"No, I never have," Sakura said plainly.

Ino looked at her weirdly.

"You're kidding, right?" Ino asked.

Tenten answered this one for Sakura.

"No she's not. Lee doesn't do anything improper. He's a gentlemen," she said.

"Something boys lack now a days," Sakura added.

Ino laughed.

"I thought those gentlemen were dead," she said.

Tenten joined the laughter.

"I thought so too, until I met Lee," she said.

Sakura gave a light giggle. The door bell rang.

"Lets hope it's the pizza boy, cause if it is someone else, I'll hurt them," Tenten said.

To hers, and the guy at the doors luck, it was the pizza boy. She payed the pizza boy and took the pizza. She grabbed some plates and handed them to the other girls. They each grabbed a slice of pizza. They ate the whole box of pizza in like, 20 minutes.

"Ok, now what? We've watched movies, had ice cream, had pizza, told embaricing moments," Tenten said.

"I know, lets tell each other secrets, one each," Ino said. "What we say here will not be repeated."

She had checked the clock and it read 9:40 pm. The other girls nodded and Hinata began.

"Um, once during training, I spaced out ... and I accidentally kissed Kiba, thinking he was Naruto," Hinata said.

"What did he do? What did he do?" Tenten asked.

"He ran home as fast as he could and washed his mouth out," Hinata said.

"And then what happened?" Ino asked.

"He didn't come to training for a week because he was still washing out his mouth," Hinata said.

Tenten and Ino were on all fours. Sakura laughed.

"I bet if Naruto heard that, he would probably killed Kiba," Sakura said.

Tenten and Ino nodded.

"Ok, ok my turn, once me and Neji played Seven Minutes in Heaven, and we went past the seven minutes," Tenten said.

"For how long?" Ino asked.

"About 23 minutes after the time limit," Tenten said.

"Ohhhh, did someone have to get you two out?" Sakura asked. "Was it at a party?"

"Yes and no. Lee was the one who found us in Neji's closet. You should have seen his face when he saw my buns a mess, and Neji's shirt ripped off," Tenten said laughing.

"How did he find you?" Hinata asked, since Sakura and Ino were gasping for air.

"Well, Lee came over to Neji to see if we wanted to train with him. He heard noises coming from Neji's closet and found us in their. His face went red and he closed the door really fast. He actually ran out of Neji's place," she said.

Ino and Sakura were still tring to get air and Hinata blushed at the thought of her cousin looking like that.

"What about you Ino?" Sakura asked, finally gained some air.

"Once, Shikamaru came to the shop when it wasn't busy and we made out, right in the middle of the store. Everyone looked at us weirdly, even my mom," Ino said.

Tenten was laughing hard now.

"Right in the middle of the store?" Tenten asked.

"Right in the middle," Ino repeated.

"What happened next?" Tenten asked.

"We went in my room and the customers could hear stuff breaking," Ino said.

Tenten laughed harder. Sakura gave a light laugh. Ino turned to Sakura.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Well, once, Lee walked me home during the rain. When we got to my house ..." she started.

She was cut off by Ino.

"You two made out in your room," She teased.

Sakura blushed and shook her head.

"No, I thanked him an ... and accidentally called him Sasuke. I never realized it until I fell asleep that night. So, the next day I bought some cherry blossoms, lotuses, and a picture frame of me and him," Sakura said.

She hoped they wouldn't push it any harder. That was not her luck.

"What did the photo look like?" Tenten asked.

"It was a picture of me and him, kissing under the mistletoe. I thought I would look for him at the training grounds, but he wasn't there," Sakura said.

"Oh yah, I remember now, I told you that he was at the hospital," Tenten said.

"Why was he there?" Ino asked.

"The day before he trained and slipped and hurt his left arm pretty bad," Tenten explained.

"Anyways, I ran there and walked in his room. He was asleep. I put the flowers in a vase, put the frame on the nightstand, and I sat on his bed next to him. I ... I stroked his hair and leaned in and kissed him on his lips," she said, hiding her blush.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, for how long?" Ino and Tenten asked.

"For two minutes," she said.

'But it was one of the best two minutes I ever had,' she thought.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how cute. Did anyone catch you?" Ino asked.

"No, I released and got off the bed just as the nurse came in," Sakura said.

"Talk about close calls," Tenten said.

"Yah," Hinata agreed.

Ino looked at the clock and was surprised that it read 10:38 pm. She yawned.

"Ok, lets get some sleep you guys," she said.

"Ok, night," the other girls said.

Tenten turned off the lights, after checking the doors and windows. About 20 minutes after Sakura fell asleep, she started twisting and turning. She was having a nightmare.

Sakura's nightmare  
It was dark, real dark. There was red stuff on the ground. It was blood. Sakura was standing over the blood. There was a lot of it. She looked up from the blood to see the little girl. The girl had no emotion in her eyes and was still holding the dead flowers. But this time, she had one live flower, the cherry blossom.

"The lotus boy is dead," the little girl said.

"Dead? What do you mean? Who are you? Where is he?" Sakura asked.

"The lotus boy, is dead," the little girl said.

She pointed to a body behind her. Sakura walked past the little girl and got a closer look at the body. It was Lee. Before she reached the body, she heard him yell out in pain. It was the same cry when Gaara of the Sand crushed Lee's left arm and left leg. She covered her ears, not wanting to hear it. She ran to Lee's body and froze. Her whole body shook. Tears rolled down her cheek. Lee had kunai stabs all over his body and blood came out over his body. He was in a puddle of his own blood. She knelt down beside his body. She looked over at the little girl.

"Wh ... what happend to him?" she asked.

"The lotus boy is dead," the little girl repeated.

"I know, bu ... but how did he die?" Sakura asked, getting a little irritated.

"The lotus boy used them, that is how lotus boy die," the little girl said. "The lotus boy used them to destroy the ugly snake."

"Used what?" Sakura asked.

The little girl and Lee started to fade away.

"Wait! What did he use?" she asked.

"The lotus boy used them," the little girl said before disappearing.

End of the nightmare

Sakura woke up without screaming. She didn't make a sound, she didn't want to wake up her friends. She was still afraid though.

"He used them , he used them, what did she mean?" she asked herself.

Sakura shook it off and fell back asleep. The sunlight woke her up. She slowly opened her eyes. She looked out the window and saw the little girl. The lotus looked weak.

"The lotus boy is hurting cherry blossom girl," the little girl said.

She disappeared. Sakura was getting tired of her coming and going as she pleased. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Hinata's voice.

"Sakura, Sakura," she said.

"Yah Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"I made some pancakes if you would like any?" Hinata asked.

Sakura turned to see Tenten and Ino have a pancake eating contest. Sakura smiled and nodded. She took a seat at the counter and ate some pancakes. They were delicious. She remembered her dream, or nightmare to be exact. What did it mean? Lee's body, was he dead? She lowwered her head a bit. What did it mean?

"Hey Sakura, what's the matter?" Tenten asked.

"Hmm, oh I was just remembering about my dream," Sakura said.

"Was it about Lee?" Ino asked/ teased.

She looked at them weirdly. They really liked picking on her about Lee, didn't they?

"Sort of," she replied.

"Why don't you explain it, I'm sure we can help," Hinata said calmly.

Sakura nodded.

"Well, when it started out it was dark, real dark. And then there was red blood, not a lot of it, but a small puddle. Then I saw this little girl. She holds flowers. What's weird is that she usually holds 11 dead flowes and two live flowers; a lotus and a cherry blossom," Sakura started before being interupted by Ino.

"Wait, wait, wait, are you saying you've seen her before?" Ino asked.

"Yah. Anyways, for some reason this time she had one flower alive, a cherry blossom. Then she spoke to me, she had a light and emotionless tone of voice. She said, she said, 'The lotus boy was dead'. I asked her what she meant and who she was, but she never answered. She repeated the same thing. She pointed to a body behind her. I walked over and saw that it was Lee. He was laying in a puddle of blood. As I neared him, I heard a cry and thought it was from Lee. He had stab marks all over his body, and he had blood everywhere on his jumpsuit. I asked her what happened but he didn't answer, all she did was say he was dead. I asked her again and all she said was 'The lotus boy used them, that is how lotus boy die' and also she said the he died to destroy the ugly snake. She and Lee started to fade away, before I could ask her what he used," Sakura finished.

The other girls sat in silence. Sakura lowwered her eyes.

"I need to get going, bye guyes," she said, leaving.

"Yah, bye Sakura," the other girls said.

'Poor girl,' Ino thought.

At Sakura's house a week later  
Sakura stood at her window looking down below at the wet streets. It was raining, and it was raining hard. It had been raining for two days now. It was raining. Was the sky crying? Was the sky crying for her? For Lee? Sakura put her forehead against the cold glass window. It had been a week and still no Lee or the others. Sakura was getting worried. Everytime she saw that little girl, the lotus flower looked weaker and weaker everytime she saw it. Sakura looked to the left of the street and saw the little girl there. The cherry blossom flower looked weak, but the lotus flower looked dead. Sakura's eyes widened; tears formed in her eyes.

"The lotus boy is dead," the little girl said, then disappeared.

Sakura fell to her knees. She's lying, he's alive! He has to be, doesn't he? Tears started to flow down her cheeks. He has to be alive!

"He has to be, because," she started, "because I never told him I loved him."

Their was a sudden knock at her front door down below. She looked down at the floor.

"L ... Lee?"

She walked out off her room and opened her front door. Instead of Lee, she was greeted by a wet Tenten.

"Tenten?" she asked.

"Sakura come quick," Tenten said in a hurry.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Temari is here, she has news about the others," Tenten said.

Sakura grabbed a coat and umbrella and ran with Tenten to Ino's place. They made it in good timing. They knocked on Ino's door and was greeted by Hinata. Hinata stepped aside and allowed the two girls in. They walked in to see Temari and Ino near Ino's fireplace.

"Hello," the two girls said.

"Hello," Tenten and Sakura replied.

"So, what is the news on the boys?" Ino asked, turning to Temari.

"Well, when I left, they were fighting off a small number of Sound ninjas. They were looking pretty beat up, but still stood their grounds. They sent me to tell you they would be back soon," Temari explained.

"And ... what about Lee?" Sakura asked.

Temari looked down, trying to remember who Lee was.

"The one with bushy brows right?" Temari asked.

Sakura nodded.

"He's fine, in fact he is the one who sent me," Temari said.

'Even though he was fighting Orochimaru when I left,' Temari thought.

Sakura smiled.

'He's safe,' she thought.

"Temari, how long ago was this?" Tenten asked.

"About three days ago," she replied.

Tenten nodded.

"So, when do you think they will return?" Ino asked.

"Well, any time now," Temari said.

"Guys ... look," Hinata said.

They looked out the window to see the sun shine and the clouds had disappeared. Sakura looked closer and saw the little girl.

"The lotus boy is waiting for the cherry blossom girl, the lotus boy is waiting at the gates for the cherry blossom girl," the little girl said, then disappeared.

She didn't notice the others trying to get her attention until Tenten punched her on the head.

"Ouch, why'd you do that?" she asked.

"You weren't listening to us, why were you ignoring us?" Tenten asked, a little irritated.

"Sorry, I saw the little girl again," Sakura said.

"What did she say?" Ino asked.

"Hold on, who's this little girl?" Temari asked.

"It's this girl Sakura can see, so anyways, what did she say?" Tenten asked.

"She said, the lotus boy is waiting at the gates," Sakura said.

She heard the front door open. Everyone looked to see Tenten at the door.

"Then what are we waiting for, lets go," Tenten said running to the gates.

"Tenten," the others yelled, running after her.

"Come on," Tenten said, not looking back.

They finally made it to the gates but saw no boys.

"Where are they?" Tenten asked, looking around.

She looked irritated.

"Well, since we are here, we should wait for them then," Temari said.

The others nodded. They waited there for an hour before seeing something in the distance.

"Look, someone ... someone is coming," Hinata said.

They looked in the direction she was pointing at and saw a group walking towards them.

"Is it ... is it them?" Sakura asked.

"I can't ... oh wait, it is," Tenten said.

The boys were walking close to them. When the boys saw the girls, their faces went grim.

"Shikamaru, Choji, " Ino yelled, waving her hands in the air to her two teammates.

Shikamaru waved his hands back. Him and Sai were helping Sasuke walk. The girls felt uneasy seeing the boys expresion. Sakura didn't see Lee or Naruto at all.

"Where is Lee?" she asked herself.

The boys looked away, apparantly they heard her.

"Where is Lee?" she asked again.

Neji stepped out of the way and Sakura's eyes widened. What she saw was Naruto carrying an unconsious Lee on his back. He had scars and cut marks everywhere on his body. Sakura stared at him, eyes widened.

"The lotus boy is dead" echoed through her ears.

She shook it off.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

Naruto looked away.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but I ... I couldn't stop him," he said.

"What do you mean, what happened?" she asked.

"When we found him, he was protecting Sasuke's unconsious body, fighting off a lot of Sound ninjas. Before we sent Temari and after we found him, Lee fought for four day's straight, without stopping. Then, when we sent Temari to tell you about our progress, he ... he opened up the final gate against Orochimaru," Naruto explained.

"The lotus boy used them to destroy the ugly snake" echoed through her ears.

"He ... he opened the eighth gate," Naruto said. "And then collapsed when he destroyed Orochimaru and any of the Sound ninjas left. He didn't wake up. I'm sorry Sakura, I couldn't stop him."

Remembering what her sensei had said about the gates, Sakura began to tear up. She looked at him. She couldn't, she wouldn't believe that he was dead.

"We have to take him to the hospital," Sakura said.

"Uh, right," Naruto said.

The group took off to the hospital. The nurse placed them in a big room for everyone. In one corner, Tenten was bandaging Neji's back. Shadows covered his eyes.

"There, all done," Tenten said.

"Thanks," he said, putting on his shirt.

Tenten looked over at Lee and Sakura. Sakura was holding Lee's left hand.

"He was strong," Neji said out of nowhere.

"Hm?" Tenten asked, turning to Neji.

"He was stronger than me," Neji said. "It was incredible. He was stronger than any of us."

Sakura wasn't listening. She was watching Lee, hoping he would wake up.

"Lee, wake up," she whispered.

The others looked at the two. Ino stood up and shooed everyone out. Before she left, she looked back at the two remaining then closed the door. Sakura didn't notice. She sat there, thinking. What if she had stopped him the day he left? Would that have changed anyhting? Would he still have left?

"Lee, I don't know if you can hear me, but ..." she started, "but I want to tell you that I ... that I love you."

She started to cry on his chest. She didn't notice his eyes slowly opening. He looked down to see Sakura crying.

"Sa ... Sakura," he said weakly.

Sakura looked up him, surprised.

"Pl ... please stop crying," he said.

He lifted up his hand, fighting off the pain, and wiped her tears. Sakura stared at him. She looked out the window and saw the little girl. Both the lotus and the cherry blossom were alive.

"The lotus boy and cherry blossom girl are happy," the little girl said, then disappeared.

Sakura smiled. She felt her eyes get a little heavy. Without thinking she actually sat on Lee's bed.

"Sakura, are you tired?" he asked.

"Just ... a little," she said.

Lee made some room for her and she laid down. She moved closer to Lee and laid her head on his arm. He blushed. She moved closer to him; she could hear his heart beat. Both of them were blushing. Sakura lifted up his arm and put it around her.

"Sakura, this is very improper," Lee said.

She didn't care.

"I don't mind, I'm happy," she said.

She moved her head closer to his head. She put her hair under his chin.

"You're ... happy?" he asked himself.

"I'm always happy when I'm with you," she said. "Because I love you."

He blushed as she moved her head to look up at him. She leaned in and kissed him and he kissed her back. When they broke away she rested her head on his chest. He rested his head on Sakura's head. They fell asleep like that. Those two didn't care, they didn't care if the nurses got mad at them for being like that. The little girl stood outside the window. All the flowers she was holding were alive.

"The lotus boy and the cherry blossom girl are happy together," she said. "The lotus boy and cherry blossom girl are happy."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The End-  
Me: Ok it is official, I suck at endings. Send flames on this ending if you want to.

Sakura: It wasn't that bad.

Lee: Yosh!

Me: Thanks. Anyways, send good reviews. If you want to send flames, then throw them in your fire place. Buh bye . 


End file.
